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Life Lately
Sarah’s family celebrated E’s third birthday–no more toddlers in her house! Abby and her family just got back from a weekend trip to Minnesota.
Sarah was recently on the Sarah R Bagley Podcast and the Cohesive Home podcast if you want to listen to her chatting about her new show, Family Pedals.
Reading Lately
Sarah finished The Nix by Nathan Hill, a contemporary fiction novel in the same vein as Jonathan Franzen or Jeffrey Eugenides’ work.
Abby listened to The Bassoon King: Art, Idiocy, and Other Sordid Tales from the Band Room, a memoir by Rainn Wilson, better known as Dwight from The Office.
Raising Readers
We discuss what our reading life was like growing up, what reading looks like with our kids these days, our favorite childhood books, and our hopes for our kids as they become readers.
Favorite resources for finding books:
Favorite books from our childhoods:
- Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
- Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran
- Bootsie Barker Bites by Barbara Bottner and Peggy Rathman
- Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Favorite books to read to our kids:
- Toddler
- Indestructible books
- Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems (loved by my preschoolers too!)
- A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara
- Counting on Community by Innosanto Nagara
- My Bus by Byron Barton
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle
- Mem Fox books, especially Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes and Where Is the Green Sheep?
- Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers
- Baby Present by Ericka McConnell and Rachel Neumann
- I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont
- No Bows by Shirley Smith Duke
- Global Babies
- Sandra Boynton books
- Carnival of Cats by Charles Ghinga
- Preschooler
- Bear on a Bike by Stella Blackstone and Debbie Harter (and others in same series)
- Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman (and others in same series)
- Ladybug Girl books by David Soman and Jacky Davis
- Building Our House by Jonathan Bean
- Most People by Michael Leannah
- Jan Brett books, especially in the winter
- Who Has What? All About Girls’ Bodies and Boys’ Bodies by Robie Harris (also great ones by him about birth and reproduction)
- Kindergartner
- The Twits by Roald Dahl
Eating Lately
Abby enjoyed a German Potato salad made by her neighbor for Oktoberfest and Sarah attempted sauerkraut guided by the book Wild Fermentation.
If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at friendlierpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!
Love, love, love this topic! I’m following through on a lot of threads you mentioned and I’m hoping to get other suggestions in the comments. My son is 14 months and some of his favorites are Chicken Chicken Duck, Music Is, Dear Zoo, What a Hoot, and Peek a Who (a favorite since he was about 7 months old).
As for cabbage, I have a suggestion. I happen to love cabbage, and a favorite (very German) way to eat it is sauteed with onions and apples, finished with vinegar. I added some fennel fronds from my CSA this week (thanks for the recommendation!), and it was delicious. Even the baby ate some! Loose recipe: Sautee one large onion cut into ribbons in oil. When softened, add cabbage cut into ribbons (I used about 3/4 head of a small-ish red cabbage since that is what my large sautee pan would hold). When cabbage is starting to soften, add equivalent of 2 apples, peeled and sliced. Finish with a few glugs of vinegar (I used red wine vinegar because that’s what I had on hand, but apple cider vinegar would be great) and a sprinkle of chopped fennel fronds. I served it with bratwurst.
I’ve also made sauerkraut. I don’t love to eat it on it’s own, but I do like it as a condiment. A favorite way to eat it is on top of a pile of roasted veggies.
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Glad the CSA is working out! That cabbage recipe sounds delish. My German grandmother used to make something similar. Neil isn’t a huge fan of vinegar, but maybe he can grab some before I add it.
I think this is a topic we’ll need to come back to as our kids grow up as so much changes every year!
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I’ve been meaning to come back to this podcast and recommend this book for Sarah. It is a lovely picture book with a bicycle in a starring role. 🙂 It’s also a true story with a wonderful message about courage and hope and treating everyone the same.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21965198-emmanuel-s-dream
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Thanks, Rebecca! Putting on hold now. -S
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